A question that has been raised by some elements in the media and the established political parties is, "Does Kejriwal have the experience to be Prime Minister or even a chief minister?" But did Pandit Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi or Barack Obama had any experience before holding the top job? Does Modi's experience as CM makes him fit to be PM? May we have the wisdom to choose the right person. To answer the question all one needs to do is to look at history.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

In
Focus

Poll

Is Arvind Kejriwal's decision to resign correct?

Yes :

15.52
%

No :

79.31
%

Can't say :

5.17
%

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What was the experience of Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru when he became Prime Minister on 15 August 1947? A big zero.
During periods when he was not in jail, he did lead the Congress
Party. But he could have no experience of ruling any part of India
because India was then under British rule. He was well educated and
had vision of a great India.

Except for being a supporter of corruption
(e.g. jeep scam of 1947 involving V K Krishna Menon), nepotism (e.g.
making infamous General B M Kaul Corps Commander in 1962 leading to
Chinese debacle) and crony capitalism (e.g. Dalmia Case of 1956;
Mundra Scam of 1957; Jaynti Dharam Teja Scam of 1962 where Daram
Teja?s company with a paid up capital of Rs 200 got a loan of Rs
200 crores on Nehru?s recommendation) and a neglecter of India?s
defence preparedness, he did a pretty good job.

He laid the foundation of a vibrant, modern,
technology savvy and industrialized India. In fact his entire cabinet
was without any experience. Yet most of them, except for a few like
Mr. Krishna Menon, performed very well. Their assets were
intelligence, knowledge, dedication and love for the country. It is
because of Nehru that India has IITs, IIMs, AIMS and is a nuclear
power and has sent a mission to moon and Mars.

Rajeev Gandhi

What experience did Rajeev Gandhi have when he
became PM? He literally parachuted from a Boeing aircraft of Indian
Airlines into the prime minister?s chair. Except for his handling
of the Anti Sikh riots and the misadventure in Sri Lanka, he did as
well as he was permitted by his unscrupulous council of ministers.

Mr. Clean was snared into the Bofors and other
scandals and the Shahbano Case and lost the election that followed.
But he had the vision to introduce ?Panchayeti Raj, integrate the
villages into the national telephone network and brought in computers
and to start information technology. His vision helped India to
progress and become the world?s leading IT power.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama, the current US President in his
second term was a first time senator before becoming the US president
in 2009. His executive experience before becoming president is nil.
Yet he did well enough to win a second term.

Manmohan Singh

Unlike the most inexperienced national leaders
listed above, the most experienced Prime Minister after Indira
Gandhi, Mr. Manmohan Singh, has been a total disaster. As a result of
his weak character, (the only time he shows resolve is when it comes
to hanging on to his chair), poor governance and benign tolerance of
all pervasive corruption, he has brought the century old Congress
Party close to oblivion.

What use is experience when ones vision is
restricted to finding corrupt ways to stay in power, when your leader
has no pride in his nation and no control over his ministers? Why the
Congress party chose him to be Prime Minister and persisted with him
remains the most intriguing political mystery of our times.

Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi claims that he has experience for
running the country. Does he? He has been the Chief Minister of
Gujrat for over 10 years. But does that qualify him to be the Prime
Minister. As a Chief Minister he has the power to sack any of his
ministers. He does not have to tolerate dissent. Does the Prime
Minister have the power to sack a Chief Minister?

A Prime Minister has to live with dissent and
have the tact to still implement his agenda. Narendra Modi has
dictatorial tendencies. His home minister, Haren Pandya with whom he
had differences was assassinated. He has a convicted criminal in his
cabinet and has a benign tolerance to corruption.

He is a master at crony capitalism. He is close
to Adani Group and has granted them all kinds of sops. He refuses to
disclose his relations with the Ambanis and his stand on doubling of
gas prices clear. Yet, if the opinion polls are to be believed, he is
India?s most favoured Prime Ministerial candidate.

I am unable to understand whether Narenra Modi
has been able to hypnotise the Indian voters with his election
campaign and rallies (the source of the funding of these expensive
political events is of course a closely guarded secret) or the modern
day youth is as dumb and gullible as their illiterate parents and
grandparents.

Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi is unofficially declared as the
Congress Party?s nominee for the Prime Ministership. His experience
in government is zero. He is well educated and appears honest. He
does not appear to be power hungry. Is that enough to make him a
better Prime Ministerial candidate than Kejriwal? The fact of the
case is that no senior leader in the Congress takes him seriously.

He is having difficulty in getting anti
corruption laws passed. He is unable to have the corrupt punished or
even prevent them from getting party tickets for the forthcoming Lok
Sabha elections. He is not in a position to explain the source of
funds for his rallies or clarify his stand on doubling the gas price
at behest of Mukesh Ambani.

Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal, as an ex bureaucrat has some
firsthand knowledge of what goes on in the corridors of power.
Kejriwal is intelligent (IIT graduate and IRS), honest and down to
earth. He is not after money. (As income tax commissioner he could
have made tons of it but quit to form an NGO). He is not power
hungry. (He would not have resigned as CM of Delhi if he was). He is
accepted by his party mates and the people as their leader. He is
media savvy. He is fighting against corruption, nepotism and crony
capitalism. Is he not likely to be a better PM than Narendra Modi or
Rahul Gandhi?

Conclusion

A successful Prime Minister has to be a leader
of men. He must passionately love his country and be ready to make
sacrifices for his country. He must have the courage of conviction to
stand his ground in national interest against foreign powers and
domestic business and religious lobbies. He, like Lal Bahadur Shastri
and Indira Gandhi, must be loved and respected by the ordinary people
of India.

He must be a man of vision capable of taking
long term decisions which will benefit the country. He must be a man
of compassion for the poor and down trodden. He must be the prime
minister of all Indians, rich or poor; over privileged or under
privileged; regardless of sex, religion, caste, community or
political leaning.

We have many to choose from. We have the power
hungry Narendra Modi and the petty leaders of regional parties who
will fight amongst themselves when the time comes. (Have we forgotten
that Choudhury Charan Singh stabbed Moraji Desai in back to get the
chair in true Indian tradition? Have we forgotten that Chandra
Shekhar stabbed VP Singh for the chair? Have we forgotten the
miserable short reigns of Deve Gowda and IK Gujral?) We also have
Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal.

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